Dear Glengarry:

You refer to hypothetical terrorists from Algeria, Egypt or Sri Lanka. Do your sentiments also include Israeli Defence Forces personnel terrorizing, torturing and maiming Palestinians?

Helmut Oberlander was born into a German Mennonite community, which had settled in Ukraine centuries earlier at the invitation of Czarina Catherine the Great. As a 17-year-old boy during World War II, he was dragooned by the German Army to act as an interpreter because of his knowledge of the German, Ukrainian and Russian languages.

Judge Andrew MacKay specifically ruled that there was no evidence that Mr. Oberlander perpetrated any atrocities or war crimes during WWII. So Mr. Oberlander certainly cannot be labeled as a war criminal.

On the other hand, Judge MacKay ruled that "on a balance of probabilities" Mr. Oberlander must have deliberately lied during a hypothetical interview by a hypothetical visa control officer, who asked a hypothetical question concerning his activities during WWII. There is no record of such an interview or even the name(s) of any visa control officer(s), who could have carried it out. Mr. and Mrs. Oberlander both testified that there was no such interview. Their testimony is corroborated by thousands of immigrants from Europe at that time. Nevertheless, Judge MacKay sided with the contentions of Liberal bureaucrats, who maintain that a process was in place which required such an interview.

Once Judge MacKay had discharged his duty, the next step was for Elinor Caplan (the one who labeled Canadian Alliance supporters as racists, bigots and holocaust deniers) to recommend to Cabinet that Mr. Oberlander be stripped of his citizenship. This was done at a secret Cabinet meeting on July 12, 2001, the participants at which is unknown.

So Mr. and Mrs. Oberlander, who spent 50 years of their lives as productive, hardworking and loyal citizens of Canada, face the prospect of being torn from their families and deported to ... where? ... .

In my opinion, the whole process is a serious subversion of Canada's justice system, which should be protested by all Canadians and especially members of the Canadian Alliance.

Respectfully
Mozuz, Edmonton West